Toward Thoughts on Function...

Good Morning...
I have been down with the flu for 10 days or so...
no fun, though the fevers do create interesting perspectives on occasion...
I knew I would be in trouble,  when Wyatt came off the school bus
sneezing 8 inch long ropes of muck from his nose... repeatedly...
my constant use of "natures flu shot" notwithstanding...
we helped each other through it all...
nothing like hauling firewood across an icy drive in freezing cold weather,
with a good fever running the blood,
 to reset any and all mental priorities and complaints...
no room for complication here, just stay warm, hold on and ride the wind of it...
my head has begun to clear so I thought to begin here a bit...
the studio has had to wait... frozen...

the second best part of working in the wood kiln for me was the introduction to
making use of function and considering it in my thought process with the work.
I have been a potter my entire life, though some, more honestly many, have always insisted I was not.
that debate is for others who care for such things... It is of little interest to me what I'm called ...
there isn't much I haven't been called over the years anyway...
Picasso said  " I am always doing that which I cannot do in order that I may learn how to do it".
I have always tried to practice from this perspective... moving on as soon as I have achieved
the sought after results, fearing only, that after many years the work would look the same as it did in the beginning... nothing good there...doing something well is always the point to move on from...
 to press for new info and learning...
later, I might try to speak on some of my thoughts of craftsmanship and it's place in this but not now...
craftsmanship is important, not as aspiration, but merely as a vehicle, not as a concluding position... empty craftsmanship offers no energy, no life, no vision... none of us want that... evolution is everything here...
so I began making things for the table... useful,plain, stark things...
my efforts with these pieces were easy... traditional...
keep them simple, unadorned, lacking in skillful display or cleverness...
let the food and drink be the hook... allow it's presence to be on display...
help the eating feel more sacred, special and enriching in an engaged manner, not a McDonald's one...

there are 3 general groups of these Shino pieces...
I choose Shino because of it's mysteriously symbiotic relationship with food...
everything looks delicious on it... simple as that... one glaze of character is enough for me...
1. Serving pieces of various sorts...
2. cups & bowls of a more exotic nature, for whiskey and etc.
3. I couldn't help myself... larger scale more traditionaly shaped jars and bottles...
yes... even in the middle of things, things change...

so for the next little while I'll post some of these pieces... they are fired with the lava and more raw work...
sometimes side by side... various facets of similar thought...
I hope you might like them... I'll be including shots with food too in time... and purchasing possibilities,,,
thanks for listening...
 be well, have ease...